tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44184064609132255182018-11-19T08:52:53.074-08:00Daily ExegesisBible Commentaryauthorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03470230019171564364noreply@blogger.comBlogger287313DailyExegesishttps://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4418406460913225518.post-67867753184998260062018-11-19T08:52:00.000-08:002018-11-19T08:52:52.940-08:00If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead<div style="line-height: 1.5em;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><br />&nbsp;"There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.&nbsp; But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be bed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table.&nbsp; Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.&nbsp; So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom.&nbsp; The rich man also died and was buried.&nbsp; And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.&nbsp; Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.'&nbsp; But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.&nbsp; And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.'&nbsp; Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.'&nbsp; Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.'&nbsp; And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'&nbsp; But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.'"<br /><br />- Luke 16:19-31</blockquote><br />On Saturday, we read that Jesus taught:&nbsp; "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.&nbsp; Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?&nbsp; And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own?&nbsp; No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.&nbsp; You cannot serve God and mammon."&nbsp; Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.&nbsp; And He said to them, "<a href="https://dailyexegesis.blogspot.com/2018/11/you-are-those-who-justify-yourselves.html">You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.&nbsp; For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God</a>.&nbsp; The law and prophets were until John.&nbsp; And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.&nbsp; Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery."<br /><br /><i>"There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.&nbsp; But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table.&nbsp; Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores."&nbsp; </i>Here is a contrast indeed, in terms of human life and the particular perspective of Jesus' place and time.&nbsp; We remember that in recent readings Jesus <a href="https://dailyexegesis.blogspot.com/2018/11/whoever-exalts-himself-will-be-humbled.html">dined in the home of one of the rulers of the Pharisees</a>, where He taught about humility, and since that time He has been criticized as tax collectors and other sinners come to hear Him speak.&nbsp; Responding to that criticism, He taught several parables, among them the parable of the <a href="https://dailyexegesis.blogspot.com/2018/11/it-was-right-that-we-should-make-merry.html">Prodigal Son</a>, who was reduced from great circumstances of personal wealth to feeding swine in a far off country, as low as one could get according to the culture, faith, and customs of the Jews.&nbsp; Here in today's reading, the great contrast of this <i>rich man</i> and <i>Lazarus</i> the<i> beggar</i> recalls a world in which the luxuries of the Roman Empire were available to those with wealth (<i>purple and fine linen</i>, and <i>sumptuous</i> foods brought from far off via trade made possible by expanse of the Empire).&nbsp; The daily existence of this rich man is extraordinary.&nbsp; And then there is Lazarus, whose dream is simply to be fed with the crumbs which fell from this <i>rich man's table</i>.&nbsp; On top of his humiliation in life, there is the further insult in that <i>the dogs came and licked his sores</i>.&nbsp; These are not the little puppies or house dogs to which are referred as those who eat the children's crumbs under the table in the story of Jesus' encounter with the Canaanite woman (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+15%3A21-28&amp;version=NKJV">Matthew 15:21-28</a>).&nbsp; These are the dogs of the streets and fields, an entirely negative image in the minds of Jesus' contemporaries.<br /><br /> <i>"The rich man also died and was buried.&nbsp; And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.&nbsp; </i><i>The rich man also died and was buried."&nbsp;</i> My study bible explains that <i>Abraham's bosom </i>is heaven.&nbsp; It notes that Abraham is mentioned among all the righteous because, in stark contrast to the rich man, Abraham showed hospitality to strangers (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+18%3A1-8&amp;version=NKJV">Genesis 18:1-8</a>).&nbsp; That the story Jesus tells says that the <i>rich man . . . was buried</i> is seen in patristic commentary as illustrating the state of his merciless soul, my study bible says, buried by the pleasures of the flesh.&nbsp; It cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who explains that this rich man was already buried in life by "couches, rugs, furnishings, sweet oils, perfumes, large quantities of wine, varieties of food, and flatterers."&nbsp; We note also, strangely, that while Lazarus is named, the rich man is not.&nbsp; This indicates that he is ultimately forgotten (see <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+9%3A6&amp;version=NKJV">Psalm 9:6</a>), not simply in a worldly sense, but a far more serious and profound spiritual one.<br /><br /><i>"And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.&nbsp; Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.'&nbsp; But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.&nbsp; And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.'"&nbsp; </i>My study bible notes here that the rich man's appeal to <i>Abraham</i> as his spiritual <i>father </i>isn't rejected.&nbsp; On the contrary, Abraham accepts the role, calling the rich man <i>son</i> and showing compassion even towards this man who has, essentially, built his hellish home through his own heartless behavior.&nbsp; The <i>great gulf fixed</i> between the rich man and <i>Lazarus </i>isn't a geographical kind of separation.&nbsp; Rather, according to my study bible, it illustrates the spiritual separation between virtue and wickedness.&nbsp; The rich man is separated by his hardness of heart.&nbsp; We note that the torments which the rich man is undergoing really haven't changed his heart.&nbsp; My study bible points out that he still sees Lazarus as a kind of servant who exists for the sake of the rich man's own comfort.&nbsp; Also illustrated in this parable we can find Christ's revelation of the communion of saints:&nbsp; a man who is not even a believer calls out from Hades and converses with St. <i>Abraham</i>.<br /><br /><i>"Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.'&nbsp; Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.'&nbsp; And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'&nbsp; But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.'"&nbsp;</i>&nbsp; My study bible contrasts differing patristic opinion regarding the setting of this parable.&nbsp; Some see it as taking place after the final judgment, citing punishment and award received by the two men, the rich man and Lazarus, respectively.&nbsp; But others view it as set at a time after death, although before the second coming of Christ, as the rich man begs on behalf of his <i>brothers </i>who are still living earthly lives.&nbsp; In this perspective given by Christ in the parable, my study bible says, we learn that the souls of the departed have awareness of and concern for the state of those who are still alive on earth (see <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+9%3A30-31%3B+Matthew+2%3A18&amp;version=NKJV">9:30-31; Matthew 2:18</a>; <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Maccabees+15%3A12-16&amp;version=DRA">2 Maccabees 15:12-16</a>).&nbsp; Also noted here is that while the intercessions of a wicked man are heart, they avail nothing (contrast with <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+5%3A16&amp;version=NKJV">James 5:16</a>).&nbsp; Regarding the final statement of Abraham in the last verse, my study bible quotes the commentary of St. John Chrysostom:&nbsp; "The ignorance of Scripture is a great cliff and a deep abyss.&nbsp; It is impossible for anyone to be without benefit if he reads continually and with attention."&nbsp; Moreover, those who reject such teachings for themselves -- and we remember that Jesus is still responding to the Pharisees -- were not persuaded even when people did rise from the dead (<a href="https://www.blogger.com/Matthew%2028:11-15;%20John%2012:9-11">Matthew 28:11-15; John 12:9-11</a>).&nbsp; <br /><br />&nbsp;If we look at the lessons from Saturday's reading (above), Jesus seems to be teaching that no matter what the type of wealth is that we possess -- whether that be a talent, or intelligence, or worldly goods, all of it is given and belongs truly to God.&nbsp; Therefore it is through God's righteousness that we must desire to operate in life, even in our purely worldly-seeming activities.&nbsp; How does this work exactly?&nbsp; The story of the rich man and Lazarus isn't necessarily about wealth, about the haves and have-nots in a conventional sense, except in a surface reading of the story.&nbsp; In actuality, the story is about our hearts, about what we understand and what we fail to understand.&nbsp; The rich man fails to live his life in the bigger picture, in terms of the ways that what Jesus calls the two great commandments would teach us to live.&nbsp; First, to love God with all one's heart and soul and mind, and second, to love neighbor as oneself.&nbsp; The first time we see the rich man actually loving another as himself is when he thinks of his five brothers, still living on earth, still apparently considering life as the rich man does -- all about the fulfillment of selfish desire.&nbsp; He stops to think, finally, that someone must warn his brothers about what they need to consider, else they will pay the price that he is.&nbsp; But it's still a kind of selfishness at work, as this is extended only to those whom he thinks of as part and parcel of himself and carrying his family name.&nbsp;&nbsp; His repentance doesn't begin to touch the recesses of his own heart, where he truly needs to reconsider his life.&nbsp; The great questions of repentance after life on this earth are those I personally prefer not to speculate about.&nbsp; It's a great mystery to all of us what the Judgment of God is, what is truly in another's heart, and what God has prepared for God's creatures beyond what we understand of life on worldly terms.&nbsp; But this story, as my study bible points out, does tell us several things as it is given by Jesus.&nbsp; There is first of all the communion of saints, as Abraham and the rich man can communicate with one another, and as the rich man can clearly see Lazarus.&nbsp; Lazarus, for his part, is now happily beyond the reach of the rich man and his arrogant attitude and commands, and presumably healing from his own distressing worldly life.&nbsp; Hades, in the Greek, although there is disagreement among Church Fathers regarding when this parable is set, is not synonymous with hell (or what is often referred to as Gehenna in the New Testament).&nbsp; It is rather the mysterious abode of all the dead.&nbsp; Therefore there may be some purpose to the torment experienced by the rich man.&nbsp; Like a guilty conscience, such torture or torment may be to the point of ancient forms of worldly justice, implied in the Greek word translated as <i>torments</i>, in which it serves as a form of testing regarding the true disposition of the heart and the commission of a crime.&nbsp; Indeed, the real "crime" or sin here is hardness of heart, a kind of willful ignorance, which is directly linked to a lack of mercy and even the capacity for reconsideration or repentance.&nbsp; The true knot in this story, rather than simply a tale about proper disposition of riches, is precisely the condition of the heart and our own capacities for repentance.&nbsp; Indeed, if this were merely about rules for distribution of wealth, the Pharisees would have no problem with following the appropriately set and considered rules.&nbsp; In Saturday's reading (above), Jesus says to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts."&nbsp; It all comes down to this, the state of the heart.&nbsp; Indeed, the rich man's state of his heart is what directly determines the torments he's experiencing; it is a symbolic profile of his choice midst the energies of God.&nbsp;&nbsp; Perhaps Lazarus' own torments and humiliation on earth served to condition his heart in an entirely different way, and thus he now experiences life in the bosom of father Abraham.&nbsp; The real question is, then, at what point are we incapable of change?&nbsp; How far do we go along the road of personal selfishness before we don't even know how to turn ourselves around and face another direction?&nbsp; Christ's teachings on the greatest commandments don't lead us directly to a kind of repentance in which we simply fix rules of wealth distribution.&nbsp; Rather, true repentance starts with the love of God.&nbsp; We need a model, a communion, a relationship with what is truly good in order to become ourselves a part of that good and come to know what it is.&nbsp; Perhaps, in fact, only God has the power to effect such change, through grace.&nbsp; But apparently even that, at least at some mysterious level, needs our consent regarding the state of our own hearts.&nbsp; From there we can may practice love of neighbor as oneself.&nbsp; It is a long learning curve, but it begins with opening the heart to the one place we can find the energies which torment this man, and seek to ally ourselves with God and dwell in peace in that place, sharing this substance with others.&nbsp; Where does your love of God start?&nbsp; To what does it lead you?&nbsp;&nbsp; It is a long road of learning and growth, with a far horizon always in sight.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DailyExegesis/~4/nYG-2QpZbgE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03470230019171564364noreply@blogger.com0http://dailyexegesis.blogspot.com/2018/11/if-they-do-not-hear-moses-and-prophets.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4418406460913225518.post-40878467670143024172018-11-17T05:35:00.000-08:002018-11-17T06:58:09.013-08:00You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God<div style="line-height: 1.5em;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><br />&nbsp;"He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.&nbsp; Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?&nbsp; And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own?&nbsp; No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.&nbsp; You cannot serve God and mammon."<br /><br />Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.&nbsp; And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.&nbsp; For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.<br /><br />"The law and prophets were until John.&nbsp; And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.<br /><br />"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery."<br /><br />- Luke 16:10-17(18)</blockquote><br />Yesterday we read that Jesus said to His disciples:&nbsp; "There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.&nbsp; So he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you?&nbsp; Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.'&nbsp; Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do?&nbsp; For my master is taking the stewardship away from me.&nbsp; I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg.&nbsp; I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.'&nbsp; So he called every one of his master's debtors to him, and said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'&nbsp; And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.'&nbsp; So he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'&nbsp; Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?'&nbsp; So he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.'&nbsp; And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'&nbsp; So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly.&nbsp; For <a href="https://dailyexegesis.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-sons-of-this-world-are-more-shrewd.html">the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light</a>.&nbsp; And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home."<br /><br /><i>&nbsp;"He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.&nbsp; Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?&nbsp; And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own?&nbsp; No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.&nbsp; You cannot serve God and mammon."&nbsp;</i> Jesus has just told the parable of the Unjust Steward (see yesterday's reading, above). In that parable, the unjust steward, who had earlier squandered his master's wealth, used "mammon" (wealth or money) with mercy, "making friends" with those who owed money to his master.&nbsp; Here Jesus speaks of being<i> faithful </i>in terms of being faithful to God, even in the ways in which we use our wealth.&nbsp; He compares the riches of the world (<i>unrighteous mammon</i>) to the <i>true riches</i> of the Kingdom and of faith, the things of God.&nbsp; My study bible explains that <i>what is another man's </i>is also wealth -- that is, the wealth we should distribute through almsgiving and mercy.&nbsp; Whatever we have really belongs to God.&nbsp;&nbsp; What Christ is getting at is the root of selfishness; our love and faithfulness to God will determine the ways in which we use whatever is at our disposal.<br /><br /><i>Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.&nbsp; And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.&nbsp; For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God."&nbsp;</i> My study bible says that the things which are highly esteemed among men include money, power, position, and praise.&nbsp; We revisit Jesus' words elsewhere.&nbsp; In chapter 11, Jesus expresses the "woes" coming to those in leadership for their conduct.&nbsp; Among other things, He lists their love of worldly honor and position:&nbsp; "Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces" (11:43).<br /><br /><i>&nbsp;"The law and prophets were until John.&nbsp; And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail."&nbsp;</i> In chapter 11, Jesus also criticizes the Pharisees for the fact that they follow the letter of the law as regards tithing, but fail to practice the true mercy of God:&nbsp; "But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone" (11:42).&nbsp; Here, He compares the Old Covenant and the New; He is the fulfillment of the law and prophets, and His ministry brings the fullness of the ultimate aim of the law, which is true righteousness.<br /><br /><i>"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery."</i>&nbsp; This verse is seemingly out of place here, disconnected from the surrounding passages.&nbsp; But it is linked in terms of the themes which concern the Pharisees (divorce and remarriage under the Mosaic law were highly contested and debated issues among the religious leadership, with the Pharisees coming down close to Jesus' position on the matter).&nbsp; Remarriage also involved questions of dowry and wealth, and was also therefore subject to specific regulation.&nbsp; What ties this passage together with the themes already expressed here and in the earlier parable of the Unjust Steward is righteousness, mercy, and the use of possessions.&nbsp; Jesus repeatedly condemns divorce in terms of its easy and simple access for men under the Mosaic Law and the abuse of the practice.&nbsp; Women could not sue for divorce; only men could do so, and for what amounted to nearly arbitrary reasons.&nbsp; Here Jesus holds fidelity to a very strict standard; to treat a wife as traded commodity is sinful.<br /><br />What does it mean to possess wealth?&nbsp; Perhaps Jesus, in speaking of divorce, wants us to consider how or whether or not we treat fellow human beings as things we own, aspects of our wealth.&nbsp; Surely our relationships are wealth, but they can't be thought of as "mammon," commodities of ownership.&nbsp; Jesus seems to be asking us repeatedly to consider that whatever we have truly belongs to God in the first place, and therefore the rules or laws which govern how we use what we have -- no matter what that may be -- aren't the laws of balancing the books or even following a code of tithing.&nbsp; Rather, the law that governs the way we choose to live our lives is that of faith -- love and trust in God and extending God's righteousness through whatever we might control.&nbsp;&nbsp; This is contrasted with a selfish attitude of needing to gain the whole world.&nbsp; Indeed, Jesus contrasts the eternal nature of the possession of soul with the desire to grasp all the world:&nbsp; "<span class="woj">For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?" (9:25).&nbsp; The Pharisees, while they are righteous according to the law, are men who seem intent on gaining the whole world, which includes "the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces," and honorific titles.&nbsp; But the Cross to which Christ calls each one of us is one that asks us to exchange one life for another -- a worldly perspective for one that sees all the wealth of the world as a gift for which we are stewards who seek to please our Master.&nbsp; In this way, Jesus' teachings really echo what He calls the two greatest commandments:&nbsp;&nbsp; "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’&nbsp; On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:37-40).&nbsp;&nbsp; Let us remember that whatever we possess, whether that be talent or material commodity, we each share the capacity to practice the perspective Jesus teaches us.&nbsp; We each may practice mercy, or give of our time, our kindness, the grace God gives our hearts.&nbsp; In a society that has so much wealth, it has also been found that the intangible gift of attention, respect, and recognition of a fellow human being makes the greatest difference to those who may be "the least of these."&nbsp; Over the course of the past week's readings, Jesus has given us repeated teachings on humility, and in particular to the great men among the rulers of the Pharisees.&nbsp; Let us consider their righteousness, and what they yet still lacked.&nbsp; Humility is the key to understanding how and with what each of us may be blessed, and how we may use whatever we have to serve God with love.&nbsp; We live in a world that magnifies position given by the praise in popular media, and therefore particularly that of image or appearance.&nbsp; In modern talk, this phenomenon is frequently referred to as "virtue signalling," used as a form of public relations. &nbsp; Let us consider Jesus' warnings about basing our lives and values exclusively on that which is</span><span class="woj"><i> highly esteemed among men.</i><br /><i></i></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="woj"><br /></span><span class="woj"><br /></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DailyExegesis/~4/4BnuhAW3w6E" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03470230019171564364noreply@blogger.com0http://dailyexegesis.blogspot.com/2018/11/you-are-those-who-justify-yourselves.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4418406460913225518.post-87855489160162353872018-11-16T08:42:00.000-08:002018-11-16T11:58:11.189-08:00The sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light<div style="line-height: 1.5em;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><br />&nbsp;He also said to His disciples:&nbsp; "There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.&nbsp; So he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you?&nbsp; Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.'&nbsp; Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do?&nbsp; For my master is taking the stewardship away from me.&nbsp; I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg.&nbsp; I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.'&nbsp; So he called every one of his master's debtors to him, and said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'&nbsp; And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.'&nbsp; So he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'&nbsp; Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?'&nbsp; So he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.'&nbsp; And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'&nbsp; So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly.&nbsp; For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.&nbsp; And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home."<br /><br />- Luke 16:1-9</blockquote><br />In yesterday's reading, we were given the third parable in Jesus' response to the <a href="https://dailyexegesis.blogspot.com/2018/11/i-say-to-you-there-is-joy-in-presence.html">criticism of the scribes and Pharisees</a>, that tax collectors and sinners came to hear Him preach.&nbsp; It is the parable of the Prodigal Son:&nbsp; "A certain man had two sons.&nbsp; And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.'&nbsp; So he divided to them his livelihood.&nbsp; And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.&nbsp; But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.&nbsp; Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.&nbsp; And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.&nbsp; But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!&nbsp; I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.&nbsp; Make me like one of your hired servants."'&nbsp; And he arose and came to his father.&nbsp; But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.&nbsp; And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'&nbsp; But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.&nbsp; And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'&nbsp; And they began to be merry.&nbsp; Now his older son was in the field.&nbsp; And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.&nbsp; So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.&nbsp; And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.'&nbsp; But he was angry and would not go in.&nbsp; Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.&nbsp; So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.&nbsp; But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.'&nbsp; And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.&nbsp; <a href="https://dailyexegesis.blogspot.com/2018/11/it-was-right-that-we-should-make-merry.html">It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found</a>.'"<br /><br /><i>&nbsp; He also said to His disciples:&nbsp; "There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.&nbsp; So he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you?&nbsp; Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.'&nbsp; Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do?&nbsp; For my master is taking the stewardship away from me.&nbsp; I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg.&nbsp; I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.'&nbsp; So he called every one of his master's debtors to him, and said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'&nbsp; And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.'&nbsp; So he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'&nbsp; Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?'&nbsp; So he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.'&nbsp; And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'&nbsp; So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly.&nbsp; For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.&nbsp; And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home."</i>&nbsp; My study bible explains that a steward is responsible for managing his master's property and for looking after the welfare of his servants.&nbsp; It says that the point of this parable is that the unrighteous are better at using money to make friends in the world than believers are at using money to <i>make friends</i> for the Kingdom of God.&nbsp; This is accomplished by spending it on the needy.&nbsp; At death (<i>when you fail</i>) those whom one helped will welcome their benefactors into the <i>everlasting home</i>.<br /><br />This parable is confusing in terms of its application to our salvation if we think of it in the stark black and white terms of correct behavior.&nbsp; After all, the steward himself was defrauding his master.&nbsp; But let us recall under what context this parable is told.&nbsp; Jesus has just replied to the criticism of the scribes and Pharisees that unrighteous people like tax collectors and other sinners are coming to Him to hear Him.&nbsp; (See the readings from <a href="https://dailyexegesis.blogspot.com/2018/11/i-say-to-you-there-is-joy-in-presence.html">Wednesday</a> and <a href="https://dailyexegesis.blogspot.com/2018/11/it-was-right-that-we-should-make-merry.html">Thursday</a>, in which Jesus told three parables in response.) &nbsp; Let us note that in these parables there is an illustration of mercy, of the lengths to which a shepherd, an owner of ten coins, and finally a father will go to recall and reclaim that which has been lost.&nbsp; In common with today's parable, those three parables illustrate what it means not to follow the exact letter of nominal justice, but rather to make the extra effort and sacrifice required to reclaim what has been lost.&nbsp; In today's reading, Jesus turns to His disciples and directs this parable toward them.&nbsp; Perhaps they, too, are wondering about the tax collectors and sinners who gather to this ministry to hear Him.&nbsp; After all, tax collectors were notoriously unrighteous people, known for cheating their own Jewish compatriots, working for the Romans, and not above using methods of violence and extortion to take more for themselves.&nbsp; But what Jesus seems to be saying in this parable is that it is not the rules of "dollars and cents," if you will, that remain important in the Kingdom.&nbsp; Rather, what matters is how we use what we have as stewards in order to claim what has been lost.&nbsp; In this sense, perhaps, the unrighteous tax collectors and sinners may find that by exercising mercy with what they have and reforming their own lives, they may lay claim to a righteous or "right-relatedness" to others through that same "unrighteous mammon" of wealth.&nbsp; We note that at the beginning of the parable, this steward has squandered his master's goods; so it may be with those of us who fail to use appropriately the resources we've been given by God in life, for we are all stewards of God's creation.&nbsp; This steward then, in turn, finds ways to be merciful to those who owe the master.&nbsp; In the parable, then, we find that the nominal rules of what's "fair" or "equal" to be cast out, but by the standards of righteousness, the mercy shown by the steward toward the debtors is a shrewd, and a good thing.&nbsp; In the Greek this word for <i>shrewd</i> indicates that which comes through practical understanding and experience, and is not merely an application of something abstract.&nbsp; It is a lesson in how, even as His disciples, we must be prepared to deal with fellow human beings through relatedness and pragmatism under given real circumstances, which leads to mercy.&nbsp; We see a parallel to this possible interpretation in the story of Zacchaeus, also found in Luke's Gospel (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+19%3A1-10&amp;version=NKJV">19:1-10</a>).&nbsp; Zacchaeus is not just a tax collector, but is in fact a chief tax collector, who is very rich by his ill-gotten gains.&nbsp; But as Jesus passes through Jericho, a town notorious for sin, He calls out Zacchaeus and says that He must stay at Zacchaeus' house that day.&nbsp; This is met with the same derision to which Jesus has been responding in the criticism of the scribes and Pharisees in our recent readings.&nbsp; But Zacchaeus proclaims, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold."&nbsp; And then Jesus proclaims, in a message directly found in the parable of the Prodigal Son (given in yesterday's reading, see above), "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."&nbsp; Zacchaeus' willingness to "make friends" not only with those who are poor by sharing half his goods, and to restore fourfold anything he's gained by cheating, restore him to the Lord.&nbsp; In other words, by using unrighteous mammon, he may be received into an everlasting home.&nbsp; This is a way of giving hope to all, that there is a way to redemption and to the path toward Christ.&nbsp; Let us consider how we, too, may use our own "unrighteous mammon," and in particular this personal and applied pragmatism toward the human condition that Jesus advocates.&nbsp; It may not make sense according to an abstract sense of balancing the books, but His is a ministry of direct communion with each, an effective realism which begins where we truly are and doesn't hide from itself the realities and struggles of this world.&nbsp; In theological terms, this is called (from the Greek word for steward) <i>economia</i>.&nbsp; I personally would argue that this is the kind of faith to which Christ calls us.&nbsp; We may not all be notorious tax collectors, but our Lord makes it clear that the option of giving -- from whatever resource we have, however it has come to us -- is always on the table to help to bring each back to the road of discipleship under Him.&nbsp; After all, He is the Master who gives more than all the rest of us.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DailyExegesis/~4/48KwIKQUZGU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03470230019171564364noreply@blogger.com0http://dailyexegesis.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-sons-of-this-world-are-more-shrewd.html